


Like This

by johnkunyong



Series: Actions and their Consequences [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Break Up, I guess????, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Infidelity, Light Angst, M/M, sorry it’s short, this is my first published fic pls be nice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-11-12 11:37:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18010208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/johnkunyong/pseuds/johnkunyong
Summary: They're still okay. They had to be okay.





	Like This

**Author's Note:**

> hello hi!! this is my first published fic! I hope you like it!

It starts like this.

Unread texts. Unanswered calls. Messages left with his assistant that are never acknowledged. Johnny misses him; misses his warmth. It’s been weeks since they’d had a moment to themselves, but Taeyong had been called into work on what was supposed to be his day off, and Johnny was left alone with a lunch meant for two. 

Dejected, Johnny covers the untouched plate and keeps it aside. His good news was going to have to wait. He considers calling Taeyong’s assistant, Ten, and asking to schedule an appointment so he can speak with his husband with no interruptions, but dismisses the thought. They’re still okay. They had to be okay.

~

“Your boyfriend being out of town doesn’t really count as an emergency, Ten,” Taeyong says as he loosens his tie and toes off his shoes. 

“I was bored and I missed you. That sounds like an emergency to me,” Ten laughs as he greets his lover with a kiss, “We haven’t spent a lot of time together outside of work.” 

“Johnny’s been trying to get some time alone with me; says it’s important. He might be-”

“Do you have to talk about him when you’re with me? How would you like it if I only talked about Kun?”

Ten pouts, and Taeyong is just so powerless against him. He’s alluring, breaking the monotony of his married life. Johnny was his first love, yes, but Ten was a breath of fresh air he didn’t know he needed. Oh, how pitiful that they were fated to meet only when they were both unavailable. 

~

It’s close to midnight when Johnny hears Taeyong opening the door. He’s on the couch, having fallen asleep while grading. Feigning sleep, he hopes his husband will kiss him like he used to; maybe even attempt to carry him to their bed as Johnny had done for him countless times. Instead, he hears Taeyong rummaging in the kitchen, probably looking for the lunch he had left behind. Holding back his tears, Johnny heads to their bedroom; he’s too tall to stay on the couch all night. He doubts Taeyong will notice.

~

It happens when he’s chaperoning a museum trip for his freshmen. Taeyong was supposed to be there, too. Johnny might be a well-liked and experienced art teacher, but he’s no match for a group of rowdy teenagers. Taeyong had begged off, citing work, but he promised to be at the next trip. 

It happens when he heads towards his favorite painting; their favorite painting. The painting in front of which Taeyong had shyly confessed all those years ago. The painting in front of which Johnny had proposed. He sees them, and he wishes he hadn’t. There was his husband locked in a loving embrace with Ten. Johnny is speechless. He watches them boldly interact as if the rings on their fingers mean nothing. He scoffs at the audacity of the public display. How could they when they both has lovers waiting for them? He wants to create a scene, but he can’t. Not with his students watching him, wondering why he had stopped talking so abruptly. No, he has to pretend he hadn’t seen anything. He has to watch them walk away, oblivious to the world. 

~

It’s been a long day, and Taeyong is exhausted. Ten wanted to go to the museum, and who was Taeyong to deny him? The thrill of new love was addicting, and he had missed it. He walks into his home, only to be met with an eerie silence. He knows Johnny is home; his car’s outside and his shoes are in their usual place. But the warmth that accompanies Johnny is absent. Taeyong wonders if something happened during the field trip. He’ll have to ask. He walks through the house, calling for his husband, eventually finding Johnny in the study, feeding reams of paper into the shredder. He catches a glimpse of their marriage certificate.

“What are you doing?! You can’t shred a marriage certificate!”

“Don’t worry, it’s just a copy. Thought it would be symbolic.”

Taeyong gasps. He knows. 

Johnny stands and steps closer to his husband. He’s too calm, and Taeyong is worried. 

“I just want to know why.”

Taeyong inhales sharply. How does he tell Johnny, his husband, his first love, that he doesn’t feel the same any more? Before he can answer, Johnny interrupts him,

“Do you love him?”

Taeyong sputters. The damage is already done, but he can’t bring himself to say the words he knows will ruin Johnny.

“Answer me. Do. You. Love. Him.”

His silence is answer enough.

~

It ends like this.

Taeyong is at the door, looking back at Johnny who sits stoic on the couch. Where he had once seen unconditional love, he now sees unadulterated resentment. He wants to say something, anything, but he can’t. He’s a coward. He did this.

“One more thing. Tell Kun or I’ll tell him myself.”

**Author's Note:**

> yikes!!! there it is!! please let me know what you think!! my twitter is @johnkunyong if you wanna give me some feedback there!!


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